Thursday, October 27, 2011

Hip HOP 101... NEXT CLASS!

1975:
  • Herc is hired as a DJ at the Hevalo Club.
  • He later gets Coke La Rock to utter crowd-pleasing rhymes at parties (e.g."DJ Riz is in the house and he'll turn it out without a doubt"). Coke La Rock and Clark Kent form the first emcee team known as Kool Herc & The Herculoids.
  • DJ Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invents 'the scratch.' While trying to hold a spinning record in place in order to listen to his mom, who was yelling at him, Grand Wizard accidentally caused the record to produce the “shigi-shigi” sound that is now known as the scratch. Scratch is the crux of modern deejaying.

1976: DJ Afrika Bambaataa performs at the Bronx River Center. Bambaataa’s first battle against Disco King Mario sparks off the DJ battling that is now embedded in the culture.
1977:
  • The Rock Steady Crew (the most respected b-boy crew in history) is formed by the original four members: JoJo, Jimmy Dee, Easy Mike, and P-Body.
  • DJ Kool Herc is nearly stabbed to death at one of his parties. Although the assault placed a permanent dent on Herc's career, Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Disco Wiz (the first Latino DJ), and Disco King Mario kept performing around town.

1978:
  • Kurtis Blow, who was being managed by Russell Simmons, decides to hire Simmons’ brother, Run, as his DJ.
  • Run was so-called because he could cut so fast between two turntables.
  • Kurtis would later become the first rapper to be signed to a major record deal.
  • Music industry coins the term "rap music," and shifts its focus toward emcees.
  • Grandmaster Caz (aka Cassanova Fly) and Bambaataa engage in a battle at the Police Athletic League.

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